Sunday, July 27, 2008
Muriel FleischerExecutive Assistant
Muriel Fleischer, 83, a retired executive assistant at ABC News in Washington, died of liver cancer July 21 at her home in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Mrs. Fleischer worked for ABC from 1977 to 1993. She worked for broadcasters including Howard K. Smith and Ted Koppel.
She was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduated from City College of New York. During World War II, she worked as an auxiliary telephone operator for the New York Fire Department and sang with her sister at the USO in New York.
Mrs. Fleischer was a buyer for women's millinery after the war, then moved to Detroit with her family.
She moved to Washington in 1975 and volunteered at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and at the Library of Congress. She was a founding Member of Women of Washington, a networking organization. She lived for 33 years on Capitol Hill.
Survivors include her husband of 60 years, Robert Fleischer of Plymouth Meeting; three daughters, Jody Miller of Plymouth Meeting and Andrea Fleischer and Stacey Fleischer, both of New York City; and two grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Irving LichtUSAID Economist
Irving Licht, 88, an economist with the U.S. Agency for International Development, died of complications from a series of strokes July 15 at the Montefiore nursing home in Cleveland. He lived in Washington until moving to Ohio about two years ago.
Mr. Licht was born in Cleveland and graduated from Ohio University. He served in the Merchant Marines during World War II.
After the war, he came to Washington and worked as an economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1947 to 1951. During this time, he also helped establish in Logan Circle one of the first interracial cooperative rooming houses in the District.
In 1952, Mr. Licht went to Burma to work on development issues with Robert R. Nathan Associates, an international economic consulting firm.
He returned to Washington in 1957 and joined the U.S. Agency for International Development. He served in Togo, Chad, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Ivory Coast before retiring in 1975.
His wife of 25 years, Babs McAllister Licht, died in 1977. A son from that marriage, Gordon Licht, died in 1993.
Since 1996, Mr. Licht divided his time between Washington, Cleveland and Florida.
Survivors include his wife, Riviann Joseph Licht of Cleveland, whom he married in 1996; and a daughter from his first marriage, Ellen Licht of Santa Rosa, Calif.
-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb
Simon Tisnado MunozPediatrician
Simon Tisnado Munoz, 102, a pediatrician and radiologist, died of respiratory arrest and lung cancer June 30 at his home in Falls Church.
Dr. Munoz moved to Northern Virginia in 1994 from his longtime home in Peru. He was a volunteer in the Hispanic communities at Baileys Crossroads and at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Arlington. He was a member of the Family Association of the Inter-American Development Bank. He enjoyed concerts and opera and ballet performances at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap.
Dr. Munoz was born in Cajamarca, Peru, and graduated from the medical school at the Peru's University of San Marcos in 1948. He became a professor of pediatrics and diagnostic radiology in Peru and was editor of the journal of the Peruvian Society of Pediatrics.
A fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics since 1955, he wrote more than four dozen research papers and clinical studies published in Latin American medical journals.
His wife of 54 years, Juanita Tisnado, died in 1991.
Survivors include five children, Alicia Tisnado and Cesar Tisnado, both of Falls Church, Dr. Jaime Tisnado of Richmond, Rodo Tisnado of Paris and Gilberto Tisnado of Lima, Peru; a brother; and five grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Johanna C. SchramblingAdministrative Aide
Johanna C. Schrambling, 58, an administrative aide and former congressional aide, died of cancer June 27 at Capital Hospice in Arlington. She lived in Springfield.
Ms. Schrambling worked most recently as an administrative assistant at the Marriott Residence Inn in Vienna, retiring last year after more than 10 years there.
She came to the Washington area in 1973 as a press and project assistant to Sen. Marlow W. Cook (R-Ky.) and subsequently worked for then-U.S. House members Tim Lee Carter (R-Ky.) and William Carney (R-N.Y.).
She was born in Phoenix and graduated from the University of Arizona at Tucson. Early in her career, she did reporting work for the Associated Press's Tucson bureau and the Casa Grande (Ariz.) Dispatch.
In Virginia, she was a certified lay speaker at the Silverbrook United Methodist Church, a poll worker with the Fairfax County elections office, a volunteer at Newington Forest Elementary School and Hayfield Secondary School and a tutor with the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, reading and travel.
Survivors include her husband of 28 years, George Yenowine of Springfield; a daughter, Christine M. Yenowine of Springfield; two stepsons, Mark W. Yenowine of Louisville and David E. Yenowine of Powder Springs, Va.; two brothers, William E. Schrambling of Martinez, Calif., and Peter F.X. Schrambling of Clarkdale, Ariz.; four sisters, Roberta L. Jones of Springfield, Regina C. Schrambling of New York City, Joan M. Duncan of Clarkdale and Stefanie T. Griffen of Champaign, Ill.; and four grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
Frederick J. SimmondsComputer Systems Analyst
Frederick J. Simmonds, 78, a retired computer systems analyst with the Army's Information Systems Software Center at Fort Belvoir, died July 16 at his home in Dumfries of complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Mr. Simmonds was born in Freehold, N.J., and enlisted in the Navy shortly after graduating from high school. He served during the Korean War and retired as a chief petty officer after 7 1/2 years.
He went to work for the federal government at Fort Monmouth, N.J., in 1954 and moved to Fort Belvoir shortly afterward. Later, at the Pentagon, he was appointed as the Army standards representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
He became affiliated with the Information Systems Software Center when he was assigned to manage a group charged with standardizing computer language for all the Allied nations. He retired in 1990.
Mr. Simmonds was an award-winning athlete. Becoming a dedicated weightlifter at 35, he won tournaments in 1984 and 1988, and at 54 won first place in the men's master's division of the Virginia powerlifting championships in Newport News.
In 1992, he won the Virginia master's powerlifting competition with a total lift of 987 pounds.
He used his fight against Alzheimer's disease to help others. In 2007, he was the ambassador of the Four Seasons 5K Alzheimer's Walk in Dumfries. He was a member of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Woodbridge.
Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Helen Simmonds of Dumfries; four children, Kathleen Diett of Fredericksburg, Jean Simmonds of Arlington, Eileen Simmonds-Glick of Woodbridge and Fredrick Simmonds Jr. of Garrisonville, Va.; five grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
-- Joe Holley